Tower guard at Washington State Penitentiary shoots inmate

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The state Department of Corrections says a tower officer at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla shot and wounded an inmate who had been assaulting another inmate.

The New Tribune reports that the wound was not life-threatening and that the prisoner has returned to the penitentiary after being treated at a medical facility off-site.

Prison spokeswoman Allison Window says the inmate was one of two who assaulted another prisoner in the recreation yard of the prison's west complex Tuesday evening. The tower officer sounded the alarm, warned the inmates through a speaker to stop fighting and then fired one warning shot.

When they kept fighting, the officer shot again, striking one of the attackers. Authorities did not immediately release the names of the guard or the inmates involved.